myArmoury.com - Vendelperiod Clothing and armour

Posts: 490 Location: UK

Tue 24 Aug, 2010 11:57 pm

Vendel

Hi Pete,

A belated reply to your question.

The leather faced wrap over robe is a work of experimental archeology, it may be that such robes where made from other materials, wool, felted wool, linen, etc or even a combination of these materials. Such garments appear in germanic/scandinavian iconography as Artis has observed during the 6th and 7th C. Brocaded and tablet woven textile finds from early Anglo-Saxon and Continental graves have been interpretated as decorative edging to these garments often referred to as a 'warrior jacket'.

Essentially it is considered to have originated in Asia amongst horse riding cultures, as evidenced from a male burial from the Tarim Basin dated to about 1000 BC. and such garments are still worn in this area and beyond today.

Its appearance in the west is considered to have occured amongst the peoples of the Iranian Plateua in the guise of a number of differently tailored garments, notably amongst the Sasanian Persians during the 3rd to 7th C. The White Huns from central Asia are also believed to have introduced a kaftan garment to the same area during the 5th C.

Warriors from Iranian and East Germanic stock employed in the Roman Army are known to have worn one of these garments, styled the 'kandys', and worn notably amongst these warriors serving in the Imperial Guard. This style was also adopted amongst the Byzanine court during the 7th C.

Its appearnce in the north during the 7th C is considered have occured via returning warriors from Roman service., and it is further theorised that its appearance during the Viking Age at Birka in Sweden occured viatrade routes from Byzantium. It is not known if there was a continium between the appearnce of the 7th C garment in the north and the kaftans from Birka during the Viking Age, although they are very likely to have developed from the same orginating garments.

Returning to the theme of the jackets/robe as a form of armour as has already been discussed in this thread, whilst visiting the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds this week end amongst the section themed 'Oriental' where examples of a protective garment used by warriors from the Sahara upto the 19th C., these where the same cut as the kandys mentioned above and appeared to be either layered linen, or more likely a cotton, which where stiched horizontally and vertically into dense small squares of approximetly two centimeters to each edge.. It appeared to be quite flexible for a mounted warrior, and in all likelyness was used as protection from exactly the same types of weapons as would be encountered by a northern warrior, the lance, javalin, sword , axe and arrow..

Interestingly in the same exhibit are leather lamellar armours from Asia , the same areas as believed to have ultimetly originated the warrior jacket garments, and are described as been known from the 4th to 7th C, it always strikes me as a bit odd that the warrior jacket/robe made it to the north but we are led to believe that such leather lamellar did not...ninja warriors indeed!!

best
Dave

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